15 Fragments of Hyuuga Hinata
by clockwork starlight
Summary: Being a kunoichi is being more than the sum of your parts.


Because I could, even though we all know I shouldn't have. Standard disclaimers apply, it's three in the morning, I have no reasons, only excuses, but they're pretty reasonable excuses.

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15 Fragments of Hyuuga Hinata 

Hip:

It was the stone digging into her hip that made her rise again, not Hiashi's frown, not the curling sneer on Neji's face. It is her, her discomfort and strength that force her off the floor, not their expectations of her, not the words 'as befits a Hyuuga'. Someday, when she finally believes this, it will not be her on the ground.

Knee:

She can sit _seiza_ for hours, all her weight resting on her folded knees. Once, when she was little, she couldn't hold the position for more than a minute. She thinks now that the guest from Cloud saw this as her lack of discipline, her all-encompassing weakness.

Teeth:

She has had to bite through a man's carotid artery, because her hands were tied and her thighs being pushed apart. That wouldn't have bothered her so much, she is a _kunoichi_ after all, but she couldn't smile for days afterward, afraid her teeth were still stained red.

Wrist:

She has contemplated her wrist several times. How it turns to let fly a blade, how it bends to pour tea, how easy handling a fan is, how slowly it would bleed out.

Legs:

Kiba once told her she had killer legs. He is closer to the truth than he might think. A burst of chakra from the node in her knee as it makes contact is enough to stop a man's heart.

Fingers:

Her mother used to play the _shamisen_ and the _koto_ and sometimes a _biwa_. Hinata wonders, as she traces the hard spots on her fingers, if those might not have been better uses for her hands.

Stomach:

She was sick to her stomach the first time she killed a man with Hyuuga technique. The team had been split up and pursued. Her adrenaline had been high and her control low and when her palm met his torso; she felt it cave beneath the assault, then skin tore, ribs cracked and blood and muscle and lung spattered her face.

Bone:

She doesn't believe Hyuuga are white like snow or ghosts or paper. The Hyuuga of Konoha are pale like the sharp of broken bone piercing the warm flesh housing it.

Hair:

Long hair is a vanity, it is inconvenient and beauty is an unnecessary distraction, so unlike the other girls, her hair is short. Maybe that absent vanity would have been a good enough replacement for the pride she could not feel either.

Feet:

She is skilled enough that the water does not ripple when she steps onto the surface. However, the aged _koi_ in the Hyuuga ponds are not so easily intimidated by shadows on the water; spoiled and well fed, they believe everything that enters their domain is meant to be eaten. They kiss up bubbles and swallow at her toes and she hasn't felt such laughter echoing through her in years.

Neck:

_Kimono_ expose the column of her neck, a sign of her vulnerability. When she kneels before her father, it is presenting that unguarded weakness willingly.

Elbow:

She practically threw herself out of the way of an escaping Naruto once, at the Academy, before they were _genin_. There were tingling sensations that started at her elbow and somehow skittered all the way over to her chest and cheeks.

Eyes:

There are too many metaphors for her eyes, too many flowery excuses, poetic in everything including their irony. Her eyes are eyes, they see all that they are capable of seeing, but she can't fill in the blind spots where love and happiness and acceptance are supposed to be.

Lips:

She brushed her lips against Hanabi's forehead, in what could only have been a motherly gesture; because it wasn't sisterly, comradely, competitively, distantly or coldly, which is everything they have ever been. Hanabi unthinkingly kisses her cheek in return, and they both wonder what has gotten into them.

Chest:

Sometimes Neji's gaze flicks to her chest and his expression is tinged with guilt as he looks away. Medic or not, she believes he has skill enough to see her damaged beating heart.


End file.
